30th Jul 2016 Partick Thistle 2 Queen's Park 0 (League Cup Group E - game 4)

matches:2016-17: ← 07game 0809 →

Match Information

39y, 0m, 17d			Alan Archibald		Gus MacPherson
Tomáš Černý; Danny Devine; David Wilson [ii]; Chris Erskine
David Crawford; David Syme; David Amoo; Mathias Pogba
Chris Erskine (1-0, 6 mins); Liam Lindsay (2-0, 78 mins)
Sean Welsh (1-0, 6 mins); Chris Erskine (2-0, 78 mins)
Ryan Edwards (David Amoo, 52 mins); Steven Lawless (Ade Azeez, 62 mins); Kris Doolan (Mathias Pogba, 74 mins)					Josh Watt (Joe Bradley, 62 mins); David Galt (Paul Woods, 67 mins); Aiden Malone (Ewan MacPherson, 83 mins)
31y, 3m, 20d			Tomáš Černý		Andrew Murphy
23y, 3m, 7d			Ziggy Gordon		Ross Millen
25y, 2m, 0d			Callum Booth		Sean Burns
20y, 9m, 18d			Liam Lindsay		Conor McVey
23y, 10m, 23d			Danny Devine		Ryan McGeever
26y, 4m, 15d			Sean Welsh		Adam Cummins
21y, 10m, 24d			David Wilson [ii]		David Galt
22y, 8m, 13d			Ryan Edwards		Darren Miller
29y, 7m, 19d			Kris Doolan		Aiden Malone
29y, 5m, 22d			Chris Erskine		Anton Brady
25y, 3m, 18d			Steven Lawless		Josh Watt
25y, 5m, 8d
31y, 1m, 0d			David Crawford		n-a
25y, 3m, 17d			David Amoo		Paul Woods
22y, 6m, 22d			Ade Azeez		Bryan Wharton
20y, 8m, 8d			Declan McDaid		Scott Gibson
19y, 1m, 7d			David Syme		Mark Williams
19y, 4m, 22d			Kevin Nisbet		Joe Bradley
25y, 11m, 11d			Mathias Pogba		Liam Brown
					Ewan MacPherson

notes

Thistle generally in playing order, opposition in squad number order. All 7 of the QP subs were outfield players.

Match Report

TTA report

A looping header by Erskine (6) put Thistle ahead a min after Queens almost scored. For all their possession and chances Thistle went in only 1-up at half-time. Wilson headed wide, Azeez hit the bar, then a power header at the back post by Lindsay from an Erskine corner (78) doubled the lead. Section winners.

Media report

30-Jul-2016, ptfc.co.uk

Following a convincing 4-1 win against Stenhousemuir on Tuesday evening, Partick Thistle were looking to finish in top spot in group E as well as securing a seeding for the next round of the Betfred Cup. Thistle were looking to complete a 100% League Cup group stage record for the first time in more than 40 years. The opposition for today’s match was Queen’s Park, a team that has had a campaign of mixed fortunes in the competition. They had been beaten in their opener against Queen of the South but managed to win away at Ochilview to keep their hopes of progression alive. However, this past Tuesday they lost dramatically on penalties at Hampden against Airdrie after a 3-3 draw. With all that taken into consideration the Spiders’ chances of going through were extremely thin and depended on results elsewhere. The Jags, on the other hand, knew exactly what they had to do, a win seeing them top the group and earn a seeding. With the league season approaching quickly, it was sure to be an intriguing encounter. The Thistle team made four changes from the win over Stenhousemuir. Tomas Cerny made his return from injury as David Crawford dropped to the bench. Danny Devine replaced David Syme while Erskine and Wilson came in for Pogba and Amoo. Alan Archibald reverted back to the trusty 4-2-3-1 formation today despite utilising a 4-4-2 set-up on Tuesday night. Sean Welsh led the men in Red and Yellow onto the pitch for his 100th competitive appearance since first joining on loan in 2012.

It was Kris Doolan who got proceedings underway at Firhill with Thistle shooting towards the North Stand. Thistle were looking good in the opening few minutes but it was the visitors who had the first big chance. Queen’s Park managed to find space on the wing and a good cross to the front post found the head of Aiden Malone who had his attempt saved terrifically by the returning Tomas Cerny at close range. The save ended up being crucial as just one minute later a fantastically judged long ball from Sean Welsh found Chris Erskine, who managed to head the ball over the Queen’s keeper and into the back of the net, scoring his first headed goal for Thistle since January 2013. The goal set the tone for the match as Thistle began to take control of the game. Five minutes later Archibald’s men had another chance as Ziggy Gordon cut onto his left foot inside the box before putting a curling effort just off target. A couple of minutes later the lead could have been extended again as the ball bounced off a defender into the path of goal scorer, Chris Erskine, who had his shot blocked by a sliding Queen’s Park man. The next big chance would fall the way of the Spiders. A free kick from the Jags’ right hand side was headed towards goal but Cerny was once again alert as he made a smart save down to his left. After that good chances were few and far between. The next clear-cut opportunity fell to Kris Doolan in the 38th minute as he was picked out by Liam Lindsay, he shifted the ball onto his weaker right-foot before having his shot saved by Andrew Murphy. The game reached half-time at 1-0. The Jags had been in complete control for the majority of the first 45 minutes, however, Queen’s Park had managed to muster two great chances with limited possession and Alan Archibald would have been looking for fewer moments of shakiness from his team.

Aiden Malone kicked off the second half as the men in Black and White looked to get back into the game. Six minutes in Thistle’s first change was made. David Amoo replaced Ryan Edwards who had been running non-stop all game. Amoo made a big impact on the game as, just minutes later, an excellent dinked cross by the Englishman found the onrushing David Wilson who was looking for his first senior goal but he headed it off target, when perhaps he should have scored. Ade Azeez came on for Steven Lawless as Thistle looked to retake control of a game that was well in the balance as it approached the hour mark. David Galt, who works for Partick Thistle’s own Community Trust during the week, had the next chance as the ball was laid off by Adam Cummins but he dragged it wide of Cerny’s goal. David Amoo continued to cause the opposition problems as he picked out Ade Azeez with a cross, but Azeez headed the ball against the bar under heavy pressure from a defender. The Jags then made their final change as Mathias Pogba replaced Kris Doolan. The game wouldn’t stay 1-0 for much longer. Chris Erskine found himself on corner duty in the 78th minute, he hit the cross towards the back post and perfectly landed the ball on the head of Liam Lindsay, who headed the ball powerfully into the back of the net. It was the defender’s first goal since netting away against Dundee in a 1-1 draw last November. The home side weren’t content with a two-goal margin though and made some great forward play with David Amoo looking comfortable on the ball. The wide midfielder then played the ball square to Ade Azeez who had most of the goal to aim at. Unfortunately for him a sensational diving save by Spiders’ ‘keeper, Andrew Murphy, denied him his first Firhill goal. The final chance of the match fell to Ewan MacPherson. The substitute found space in the box and was picked out with a cross by Ross Millen, but the number 19 MacPherson could only direct his header over the bar. And that would be all as Andrew Dallas blew the final whistle. Overall, Thistle had been in control for most of the match. Tomas Cerny made an impressive return to the starting line-up, making two crucial in the first 45. Captain, Sean Welsh, had another stand-out performance in the midfield as he provided the assist for Chris Erskine’s opener. Erskine himself played excellently grabbing a goal and an assist. The Jags can now look forward to the next stage of the Betfred Cup. The draw will be made tomorrow afternoon following Dundee United’s clash with Dunfermline. Thistle’s next fixture is against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Firhill on August 6, in the opening game of the 2016/17 league campaign.

Stats Watch

RECORD WINNING RUN vs. THE SPIDERS EXTENDED

● Thistle register their 6th consecutive first-half clean-sheet in Cup matches.

● Liam Lindsay's second-half headed goal takes Thistle's spread of competitive goalscorers up to 8 after just 4 games. Such a wide distribution has been a recurring feature of Alan Archibald's reign, always exceeding the historical average of 12.5. For the record there were 15 (2012-13), 15 (2013-14), 16 (2014-15) and 16 (2015-16). We shall keep an eye on the club-record of 20 different competitive scorers set in 1957-58 and equalled in 2006-07.

● Thistle register their 13th consecutive competitive win over Queen's Park - easily our most dominant streak over any other team in our entire history. The run stretches from 27th December 1982 (a 4-1 League win at Hampden) to date.

● Thistle have completed 3 consecutive competitive matches without a card being shown against them - a first during Archie's reign.

● Thistle have registered 4 clean-sheets in the 8 pre-League games of 2016-17. Six players have featured in all 4; Devine, Welsh, Wilson, Lawless, Doolan and Erskine.

● Thistle finish a League Cup section with maximum points for only the second time in the club's history. Bertie's class of 1975 were the only other Jags side to have done so.

● Thistle win the twelfth of their 34 League Cup groups to date.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive competitive wins, 15th Jul 2016 to date. (Longest run since: 4 wins, 21st Nov 2015 to 19th Dec 2015. Club-record: 10 wins, 22nd Oct 1932 to 26th Dec 1932.)

● 7 competitive games without defeat, 7th May 2016 to date. (Longest run since: 10 games, 10th Apr 2013 to 16th Aug 2013. Joint club-record: 16 games, 15th Nov 1975 to 21st Feb 1976 & 30th Sep 2000 to 13th Jan 2001.)

● 44 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (Longest run since: 46 games; 5th Dec 1914 to 24th Mar 1917. Club-record: 62 games; 1st Apr 1911 to 7th Nov 1914.)

● 44 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 9th Aug 2015 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Callum Booth - 46 games; 14th Mar 2015 to 9th Apr 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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